457 000 euros for vulnerable households in Haiti

Haiti has suffered a very long period of drought caused by the El Niño phenomenon between 2018 and the first half of 2019. This natural disaster has had serious consequences on the daily lives of Haitians. Socio-political tensions, insecurity in the country, limited availability of and access to food, falling incomes, rising food prices, etc. have exacerbated the vulnerability of Haitians. Today, 3.7 million people live in severe acute food insecurity.

Belgium has decided to help the country by providing 457 000 euros to the SFERA (Special Fund for Emergency and Rehabilitation Activities), a humanitarian aid fund of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Through this, Belgium aims not only to improve the livelihoods of 7 500 households, or 37 500 people, but also to tackle the socio-economic crisis in Haiti.

To this end, FAO is distributing seeds and planting material, vegetable seeds and cuttings. In addition, training in nutritional education, horticultural techniques, the maintenance of forage parcels and the preservation of forage crops is given to victims of the drought. The aim is to provide them with financial and material resources and to teach them farming techniques. Through these training courses, the FAO hopes to guarantee the autonomy and resilience of these vulnerable populations in the future. In the short and long term, the livelihoods of these groups of people should therefore improve significantly.